FIGURE 1 // WHERE IT WEARSVolkswagen ID.5
Top three failure systems, annotated from 6 failed first-time tests. Arrows point to where the defect is found on the car.
The Volkswagen ID.5 has the fourth-lowest MOT failure rate of any electric car tested
204 inspections in a single year make the ID5 a modestly documented electric car in the data. Tyres cause 100.0% of its failures; tyres take 4.2× the share they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
First-time test findings
First-time failure rate
OVERALL2.9%
Overall first-time failure rate.
ALL ELECTRIC CARS12.0%
All electric cars in the data.
The Volkswagen ID.5 fails 2.9% of first-time inspections. Tyres cause 100.0% of its failures.
FIGURE 2 // TYRE SECTION4 certificates in 2024
The tyre that wears from the inside
Tyres take 100.0% of the defects that fail this car, 4.2× the share seen on petrol and diesel cars of the same age. The most common item in that group is "A tyre seriously damaged", recorded 4 times in 2024.
SECTION // TYRES CONCENTRATION
Where it concentrates
The ID5 stays under the petrol fleet at every age we can measure. What it does fail on is unusually concentrated.
Source: DVSA MOT defect items, 2024 test year.
What to check
Check tyre age and tread across the full width, inner edge included. Electric cars wear tyres faster; a cheap mismatched set on a used car tells you how it was run. Ask for the full MOT history by registration on the free DVSA service: advisories are next year's failures.
3 inspection points:
✓ Tyre inner-edge wear and age
✓ Free DVSA MOT history check
FIGURE 3 // FAILURE RATE BY AGEvs petrol, diesel and all electric cars
Points hidden where fewer than 50 cars of that age were tested. Dashed lines are the same-age petrol and diesel fleets.
Data sheet
- Inspections
- 204
- Passed
- 196
- Failed
- 6
- Passed after repair
- 2
- Failure rate
- 2.9% (all EV 12.0%)
- Average age
- 0.0 years
- Top cause
- Tyres 100.0%
TABLE 1 // WHAT FAILS, BY SYSTEMshare of failing defects
| System | This car (mark = petrol/diesel) | Share | vs petrol/diesel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tyres | 100.0% | 4.2× more | |
| Suspension | 0.0% | in line | |
| Brakes | 0.0% | in line | |
| Visibility | 0.0% | in line | |
| Lighting | 0.0% | in line | |
| Steering | 0.0% | in line | |
| Body | 0.0% | in line |
TABLE 2 // TOP DEFECTS ON THE CERTIFICATE
- A tyre seriously damaged4
- A tyre cords visible or damaged3
- Tyre tread depth not in accordance with the requirements2
Wording as printed by the tester, from the DVSA inspection manual.
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Where it holds up
- Suspension fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.0% of defects vs 13.6%)
- Brakes fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.0% of defects vs 18.7%)
- Visibility fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.0% of defects vs 11.9%)
- Lighting fail less often than on petrol and diesel cars (0.0% of defects vs 16.5%)
Where it fails
- Tyres take a bigger share of failures than on petrol and diesel cars of the same age (100.0% vs 23.7%)
VERSIONS SEEN IN THE TESTSas recorded
- ID5 STYLE PRO98
- ID5 STYLE PRO PERFORMANCE72
- ID5 TECH PRO PERFORMANCE13
- ID5 TECH PRO10
- ID5 GTX STYLE6
- ID5 MAX PRO PERFORMANCE5
OWNER REPORTS // MATCHED TO RECORDED DEFECTS0 read · 0 matched
No owner discussion has been matched to this car's recorded defects yet. Reports are re-collected every quarter; the figures on this page do not depend on them.
Summaries written by us, never quotes; every entry links to its source. Owner reports have no denominator and never feed the failure rate.
SIMILAR CARS IN THE DATAclosest rate and age, other brands
Mercedes-Benz EQE2.8% fail · 939 testsBYD Atto1.6% fail · 124 testsMercedes-Benz EQB4.7% fail · 129 testsToyota BZ4X0.7% fail · 138 tests
OTHER VOLKSWAGEN ELECTRIC CARS
Three things the data shows
- 204 inspections in 2024 make this one of the adequately-documented electric cars in the data.
- Tyres take 4.2× the share of failures they take on petrol and diesel cars of the same age.
- It ranks 4 of 81 electric cars by first-time failure rate.
LIMITS // WHAT THE INSPECTION DOES NOT TELL YOU
No battery health, no motor, no charging performance. The test covers brakes, suspension, steering, tyres, lights, visibility and structure. A car with a badly degraded battery passes as long as it stops and steers. Read this page as evidence about the chassis, not the powertrain. Cars are tested from their third year, so the newest model years are missing; every figure carries its sample size for that reason. Full methodology.
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